30 residents who gave lives for their country honored in Princeton parade

PRINCETON — The mournful tolling of the 203-year-old Paul Revere & Sons bell high atop the First Congregational Church punctuated the list of names of the 30 local residents known to have given their lives in the service of their country.

Threatening gray skies, a brisk wind and unseasonably cool temperatures failed to deter the dozens of people of all ages who gathered on the Town Common Sunday afternoon for Princeton's annual Memorial Day parade and observances.

Town Moderator Harry Pape read the list of names of the fallen servicemen from the Civil War era forward and recited the Gettysburg Address. As he stood on the church steps in a short-sleeve shirt, he noted that it was on a cold November day during the Civil War that Abraham Lincoln dedicated the cemetery at Gettysburg with his famous speech.

"And today, it feels like a November day," he said half-jokingly.

Steven Long of Rutland, who was there to watch his 16-year-old daughter, Rachel, march in the parade with the Jan Borelli Band, concurred with Mr. Pape's meteorological assessment.

"It was a lot warmer last year. I think we were wearing shorts and eating popsicles," he said.

The last of the names read by Mr. Pape was that of Daniel Kohlstrom, a special forces medic who died in Afghanistan in 2009 at the age of 38.

His mother, Beverly Kohlstrom, was at the parade with her sister, Jane Fife. Both women grew up in Princeton.

"We marched in the parade when we were little," Ms. Fife recalled.

Ms. Kohlstrom said she considered the parade and accompanying ceremonies a fitting tribute to the 30 local residents who went off to serve their country and never returned home alive.

"I think it's good for the men to be remembered. They gave their lives, they gave their time, they gave everything they could for the country. And I think the town needs to remember them and honor them," the Gold Star Mother said.

Jerry Ash, the parade's grand marshal, rode in the front seat of a green 1961 Cadillac convertible with a sign on the door that read, "Land of the Free Because of the Brave." His wife, Sharon Ash, said her husband, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Navy, has participated in every Memorial Day parade in Princeton since he got out of the service in 1971.

Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in January, her husband has difficulty walking now and was unable to march this year, she said.

Marchers included members of Hiram O. Taylor American Legion Post 189, a color guard, police and fire officials, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, members of various youth sports teams and even a couple of dogs on leashes.

The parade proceeded from the Common to Woodlawn Cemetery, where a ceremony was held. It then returned to the Common, where state and local officials spoke and Police Chief Michele Powers and Fire Chief John Bennett placed wreaths in front of the war monument.

"It's important that we're all here and we remember together," said Selectman Neil Sulmasy.

Army Lt. Col. Erick W. Sweet II of Northboro, the keynote speaker for the observance on the lower Common, described the 30 fallen servicemen from Princeton as "30 ordinary citizens who achieved extraordinary things.